Card picker



E. A. FORD I I CARDPICKER Aug. 5, 193( s Sheets-Shet -1 Filed Nov. 23,19 28 I l-lllii llllllllll l i.

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Aug. 5, 1930. FORD 1,772,180

CARD ,PICKER Filed Nov. 23, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 lalllillw" I Aug. 5,1930. E, FQRD 1,772,180

CARD PICKER Filed Nov. 23, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet s F|G.4. 2a 294 27 25 a528 29 1 til! q all III/l,

Uh I l v angutoz W Patented Aug. 5, 1930 v UNITED STATES PATENT I OFFICEf EUGENE A. FORD, OF SCARSDALE, NEW YORK, ASS IGNOR TO THE TABULATINGMA-' CHINE COMPANY, OF ENDICOTT, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEYvcam) rrcxna Application filed November 23, 1928. Serial'No. 321,291.

The present invention relates to a feeding mechanism for record cardswhich is especially provided for sorting, tabulating, punching and likemachines which have to handle cards of a relatively small thickness withgreat speed andaccuracy.

More particularly the invention relates to the pickerv and its drivingmechanism; such as are generally known in the kind of machines inquestion to pick cards from a card stack and to feed the same totransport rolls. It is one important object of the present invention toprovide an improved picker arrangement which ,allows the picker to feedonly one card-to the machine each feeding cycle.

Another object of the invention consists in the provision of means toshift record cards from said stack in a'direction opposite the feedingdirection towards the picker for the purpose of aligning the same.

A further important object of the invention consists in the provision ofmeans to adjust the picker mechanism relatively to the card stackwithout adjusting the driving elements for'the picker.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide adjusting means betweenthe picker ele ment and a carrier for said picker element.

Another object of the invention is to provide a driving mechanism forthe picker of very quiet and reliable operation.

Still another object is to provide an actuating bar for the pickermechanism,'which barbooperates with cam means to reciprocate the picker.

Other objects and advantages will be hereinafter set forth in theaccompanying specification and claims and shown in the drawings whichshow by way of illustration what is now considered tobe a preferredembodiment of the invention.

While the invention is shown and describedin connection with a sortingmachine, it will be understood that it is in no way limited to this kindof machine but only to such machines as deal with the problem ofhandlingaccurately and reliably cards with the characteristic physicalfeatures of tabul'ating rec- Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 ofFig. 1, the cam means being partly shown and partly omitted.

Fig. 5 is a detail of Fig. 1. The accompanying drawings illustrate theinvention as applied to a sorting machine of the well known horizontaltype. The cards. are fed from the'card stack 3 located in the magazineof the machine by the icker 4 to the first set of transport rolls 2 1g.1). On their way through the machine the cards are analyzed by brush 1and coordinated contact roller 5 and are distributed according to theirdesignation by means of sorting blades 6 into corresponding sortingboxes. The

sorting blades 6 are controlled by a magnet 7 which in turn is under thecontrol of the perforated record card.

There are provided two picker elements 4 each of which is fastened to areciprocally movable picker carrier 8 which is actuated by means of bars9 (see also Fig. 4) The bars 9 are hinged on their lower ends to anelement generally designated at 1.0 which is fastened to the frame ofthe machine. The element 10 includes a cylindrical sleeve 11 and asquare sleeve 12 which is provided on its upper part with a longitudinalslot 13 and has a cutaway portion so as to form a hinge for the head 14of its bar, one bein coordinated to each picker carrier.

A pressure spring 15 serves to hold sleeve machine frame carries twopairs of guiding pins 19 provided for pressure springs 20 holding each.bar 9 in contact with the coordinated cam disk 21 which is keyed to theshaft 22 driven b (Fig. 4).

the motor through wheel .23 ubricating means'for shaft 22 are generallydesignated at 45. It is obvious that the bars 9 will oscillate in unisonwith turning of shaft 22 and the picker 4 will feed the record cards oneby one from the stack 3 through'the machine. For the cooperatingsurfaces of bars 9 and cam disks .21 there are provided lubricatingmeans.

These comprise an oil reservoir 24 and;,a strip 25 of felt orany othersuitable materialwhich sucks the oil from the reservoir and feeds thesame to the cams 21. The strip 25 s two cutout and bent portions 26 whicdrop into the reservoir and suck the oil from the sameto feedtheremaining part of stri 25. This strip is fastened by a felt cord 2'to the frame of the machine. This cord is guided through holes of thefram and is located in the upper part of t frame in grooves 28 as willbe seen from 1 2 and 4.

The sliding bars29 of the picker carrier 8' slide over these grooves andtherefore these sliding surfaces will be also fed with oil by means ofthe felt cord 27 provided in the grooves 28.

The bars 9 have a slot on their upper ends into which a felt iece'30 isforced which coacts on the one side with the cam disk'21- and on theother. side with the felt strip 25.

The slanted art of felt 30 which cooperates with cam dis 21 touchin thisdisk once each machine cycle and the disk will be oiled by this felt-30.The felt 30 in turn engages the felt 'strip 25 in the extreme leftposition of bar 9 (see Fi 1 and 3) and receives oil from this strip. eoil reservoir 24 is fastened to the machine frame by screw 34 and maybe(Fig. 4) w ich'normally is closed by'a pin 4s filled throu h a hole 35inthe machine frame screw.

To provide easy and quick adjustment of the picker without adjusting thedriving means as for instance the cam disk, there are provided adjustingmeans (Figs. 1 and 5) between the picker carrier 8 and the picker 4which. consists of the knife holder 31 and the picker knife 32 fastenedto the holder 31 means of screws .33. To the carrier .8 is rivetedelement 17 which is provided with a slot 37 and an internal screwthread. Also the knife holder 31 is rovided with an, internal screwthread but in opposite direction to that in element 17, (see also Fig.1). The

adjusting screw .38 has two opposite screw threads theone cooperatingwith element 17 of carrier 8 and the other cooperating with a knifeholder 31. It is obvious that b turn inlg the screw the knife 32 may bea justed re tivel to the carrier 8 in either direction of the path. Forinsertion'of the card magazine the lowermost card only as long as therear screw driver for screw '38 there are provided holes in the knife 32and also in the front part of the machine frame as will be recognizedfrom Fig. 1.

The present machine als provides means to align the cards prior to eachpicking operation. Thep'cker knives project into the hsuflicientdistance to feed edges of the cards are in alignment. But the movementof thelowermost card tends to carry along the one above it throughfriction. When this happens the forward edge 'of this card may jamagainst-the throat and prevent its properfeed. Also this card above theone being fed may be dis laced suflicient' 1y to permit the rear ed e othecard above it to be engaged by the plcker knives on their nextoperation thereby causing jamming. The cards according to the presentinvention are therefore realigned prior to each picking operation by thefollowing means. The carner plates 8 are'provided on their front endwith slots 39 (Figs. 1, 2 and 3) into which passes a pawl 40 which ispivoted to a holder 36- fastened to the machine frame; pawl 40 pivotsupon pin 41 and is limited in its movement in either direction b stoppin 42.

As will be seen from ig. 1 the pawl 40 will not affect feeding of therecord cards in feeding direction when the picker is movedfrom itsextreme. right to its extreme left position, When, however, the pickerreturns and nears its extreme right position the pawl 40 will be engagedb cross part 43 of carrier plate 8 and the paw will be turned inclockwise direction and consequently align the stack of cards if thelowermost ones are out of alignment so that the lowest card is entirelyor nearl in en agement with the knife 32 which t en 'fee 5 onl thelowest card -di-,

ice

rectly'through the th at when the picker reverses its movement.

While there has been shown and described and pointed out the fundamentalnovel features of the invention as applied to a single modification itwill'be understod that various omissions andsubstitutions and changes inthe form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation maybe made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit ofthe invention. 7 It is the intention therefore to be limited only asindi-v cated by the scope of the following claims.

I claim: i 1. In a machine of the character described,

a feeding mechanism for record cards com-- picker to eed record cards inthe advance direction ofsaid picker and means to positively shift recordcards in the return direction of said picker towards the same to bringsaid cards into positive alignment before it engages the record card tofeed the same in advance direction. f

3. In a machine of the character described, a magazine for record cards,a picker and means to move said picker to pick record cards one by onefrom said magazine and to feed the same in one direction and means topositively shift record cards from said magazine in opposite directiontowards said picker to bring said cards into positive alignment,

before the same engages the record card to feed it in the firstmentioned direction.

4. In a machine of the character described, a magazine for record cards,a pickr and -means to reciprocate said picker. from a departing positionto feed record cards one by one in advance direction of said picker andmeans to positively shift record cards in the return direction andduring the returnmovement of said picker towards the departing positionof said picker to bring said cards into positive alignment.

5. In a machine of the character described,

a magazine for record cards, a picker knife, 3

a carrier therefor, means to reciprocate said carrier from a departingposition to pick record-cards one by onefrom said magazine and to feedthe same in advance directionof said carrier, a pawlmember pivoted tothe machineframe and being engaged by'said carrier at the end of thereturn strokeof the same to shift the following record card to be fedfrom said magazine in return direction of said carrier towards saidpicker knife.

'6. In a machine of the character described, a feeding mechanism forrecord cards including a picker knife fastened to a knife'holder, acarrier for said knife holder, means to ac-, tuate said carrier to pickrecord cards by said knife, and adjusting means to adjust said knifeholder relatively to said carrier, said adjusting means comprising anadjusting screw cooperating with a screw thread of one direction withsaid carrier and with'a screw thread of opposite direction with saidknife holder. I

7. In a machine of the character described,

a feeding mechanism for record cards in-.

cluding a picker knife and a holder for said knife, a carrier for saidholder, means to re ciprocally move said carrier to pick record cards bysaid picker knife and adjusting means to adjust said holder relativelyto said carrier in either. direction of the path of said picker knife,said adjusting means comprising an adjusting screw cooperating with ascrew thread of one direction with said car- ,justi'ng said picker inthe rier and by ascrew tlfread of dpposite direction with said knifeholder.

8. In a machine ofthe character described, a feeding mechanism forrecord cards, including a card picker carrier, a bar hinged at one endupon a fixed part of. the machine.

frame and having a fulcrum on the other end on said .cardpicker'carrier,and 'acamcoacting with said bar between said hinge and said fulcrum topositively actuate said card picker carrier in feeding direction.

9. In a machine of the character described, a feeding mechanism forrecord cards, including a card picker carrier, a bar hinged on one endupon a fixed part of the machine frame and having a fulcrum on the otherend on said card picker carrier, a'cam coacting with said bar betweensaid hinge and said fulcrum to positivelyactuate said card pickercarrier 'in' a' feeding direction and-yielding means. to engage said barand said cam means. 10. A machine according to the preceding claimwherein said yielding means comprise spring coils, pressing said baragainst said cam means.

11. In a machine of the character described, a feeding mechanism for inga card picker carrier, end upon a fixed part of the machine frame andhaving a fulcrum on the other end on said card picker carrier, cam meanscoacting with said bar between saldhinge'and said fulcrum record cardsinclud- K a bar hlnged on one' to reciprocate said card picker carrierand automatic lubricating means for said bar and cam means whichcooperate with each other.

12. A machine according to the preceding claim wherein said automaticlubricating means comprise an oil reservoir, an element for sucking oilfrom said reservoir, a second element fixed to the bar and engaging saidelement being fed with oil by said first one when it engages the same inthe extreme position of the bar. 13. In a machine of the characterdescribed, a feeding mechanism for record cards including a picker,slidable on a frame,--a pivoted bar and cam means cooperating therewithto reciprocate said picker on said frame and automatic lubricating meansfor simultaneously oiling the sliding surface of said picker and saidframe, on the one hand and of said bar and cam means (in the other hand.

14. In a machine of the character described, a feeding mechanism forrecord cards, including a picker, a carrier, a threaded -cam means foroilingthe same, said second support for engaging both carrier andpicker,

said support providing both means for addirection of travel su rtforenboth carrier and icker, samupport means for adj iisting said picker intwo directions relative to the carrier, one direction being back andforth in thePlane of the carrier, the other being angular with respectto the plane of the carrier. p

1'6. In a machine of the character described, a feeding mechanism forrecord 10 cards; including a picker, a carrier, an axial supportengaging both carrier and picker and permitting said picker to rock onsaid support to conform to the record cards, said support beingadjustable to move the picker relative to the carrier in eitherdirection of the path of said picker. In testimony whereof I heretoaflix my signature.

EUGENE A. FORD.'

